MLB Pitcher Victim Of Bizarre Yacht Theft

When's a yacht a terrible investment? When you buy it for $167,000 and sell it for $22,000.

That's technically what happened to Bronson Arroyo, but it all happened behind his back -- and only after a former assistant failed to squeeze some money out of Arroyo himself. According to police documents acquired by the Miami Herald, the Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher had the yacht stolen under the premise that it was sunk and in need of repairs. Anthony Acosta, the former assistant, said he would handle it and asked Arroyo for thousands to cover the bill.

But Arroyo refused, because he knew Acosta couldn't be trusted with the money. In 2012, one year before the yacht's alleged sinking, Arroyo had fired him as his personal assistant due to a prescription drug addiction that was interfering with Acosta's work performance.

The police documents note that Arroyo gave him a good settlement package and told Acosta "not to contact" him. Acosta held to that mandate until the following year, when the yacht disappeared.

In reality, the yacht hadn't sunk -- Acosta had stolen it while Arroyo was playing the MLB season and was away from Miami. When he couldn't get any repair money from Arroyo, he sold the 30-foot boat for a mere $22,000 -- $145K less than the purchase price.

The man who purchased the yacht later learned that it had a lien on it. He contacted Acosta and demanded his money back but was ignored, so he then called Arroyo.